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Manila, Philippines (Updated) – The representative of Marinduque, Lord Allan Velasco, accused on Friday the president of the House of Representatives, Alan Peter Cayetano, of trying to blackmail President Rodrigo Duterte into holding hostage the proposed budget for 2021 if Cayetano’s mandate is not extended. as leader of the House.
Velasco noted that Cayetano does not want to resign the speaker position just yet due to a “budget.”
“The questions to President Cayetano and his friends, is this the budget of the city or that of your friends? Is it a significant budget in the midst of the pandemic or is it a big budget for your group? “Velasco said in a video uploaded to his Facebook page.
(My question to the spokesperson Cayetano and his group, is this budget for the country or for his group of friends? Is this a sensible budget in the middle of a pandemic or a huge budget for his group?)
“Is that why President Cayetano and his cronies are unyielding in the fierce fight for the peaceful transition of the House leadership? Is that why President Cayetano is trying to blackmail President Duterte and hold the budget hostage if his term is not extended? added.
The legislator said he agrees that there should be no interruptions in the approval of the proposed national budget for 2021, but that Cayetano wishes to extend his mandate until December under the pretext of budget deliberations “raises suspicions.”
He noted that he remained silent as a “true gentleman and statesman” and out of respect for Duterte, even as alleged attacks to smear him have escalated over the past month.
But now, he said, “it is time to tell the truth” and “correct all the coordinated lies and misinformation that are intended to undermine the shared term agreement.”
Velasco also appealed to Cayetano to resign as speaker of the House of Representatives on October 14 and even apologized to President Rodrigo Duterte and the Filipinos for the dispute for the presidency.
In 2019, Duterte negotiated a shared term agreement between Cayetano and Velasco for the top position in the House of Representatives, in which Cayetano would serve as president in the first 15 months of the XVIII Congress and Velasco would assume the position for the remaining 21. months.
On Tuesday, news broke that Velasco will take over as president on October 14, following a meeting between him, Cayetano and their supporters with Duterte to resolve the speaker dispute.
INQUIRER.net sought comments from Cayetano via text message about Velasco’s indictment, but has not yet responded as of press time.
JE
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